Everyone is trolling Dabo Swinney at halftime of the Playoff semifinal
Leading up to the Clemson-Ohio State College Football Playoff semifinal, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney was surprisingly vocal in his defense of ranking the Buckeyes No. 11 in the Coaches Poll, arguing that OSU’s 6-0 record, while other teams played nine or more games, disqualified Ryan Day’s squad being ranked in the top 10.
He defended his ranking in an interview with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi:
“It means something to me. It’s my poll. I do it. … It has nothing to do with Ohio State — absolutely zero,” Swinney said. “You can change the name to Michigan or Georgia or Florida or Tennessee or Nebraska. Anytime you have a top-10 (ranking), it should be that special. This year it’s like really, really, really special and I wanted it to be that way.
“And so, I wanted to recognize the teams that played 9 games or more. And so, if you didn’t play 9 games, I just didn’t consider you for the top 10. That’s why they were 11. …
“Obviously, they’re a great team. They’re plenty good enough and talented enough to beat us and good enough to win the national championship. But, in my opinion, I don’t think that it’s right that 3 teams have to play 13 games to win it all and 1 team has to play 8. What universe am I living in? And it has nothing to do with them. It was about qualifying. And I didn’t think they were qualified based on the number of games.”
Swinney’s ranking and media defense of his ranking has made him a target for social media trolling as OSU lead 35-14 at the half.
Here’s a small of what’s being said on social media. Michael Jordan memes from “The Last Dance” are predictably popular:
https://twitter.com/SportsLawLust/status/1345194077831254017
Dabo Swinney on the sidelines tonight after he voted Ohio State out of the Top 10…. pic.twitter.com/vpqc5GbBLk
— Michael D. Ruscher (@RuscherMichael) January 2, 2021
At halftime, Dabo Swinney is going to inspire his squad by detailing how there are 10 teams in the country better than Ohio State. #SugarBowl #CollegeFootballPlayoff
— Ryan Black (@RyanABlack) January 2, 2021
Tom Rinaldi should ask Dabo Swinney at halftime where he would rank Ohio State now.
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) January 2, 2021
I wonder if Dabo Swinney would rank Ohio State in the top 10 now? #CFBPlayoff
— NunesToons (@keifer4994) January 2, 2021
https://twitter.com/kofodfsu/status/1345194351882764295
https://twitter.com/Charles11501/status/1345193912382713857
Dabo Swinney might wanna consider resubmitting his Coaches Poll ballot at halftime with Ohio State listed slightly higher. #CFBPlayoff
— Chris(topher) Larsen (@ESPNChrisLarsen) January 2, 2021
https://twitter.com/ZaeMartin5/status/1345199398876286976
#ClemvsOSU
Dabo Swinney: Ranks tOSU #11 on his coach’s ballotOhio State: pic.twitter.com/NiexlCnsdX
— Cognitive Dissonance in Disguise (@duckinspokane) January 2, 2021
Whether or not Ohio State ends up winning, some HAS to ask Dabo Swinney post game if he still thinks the Buckeyes should be ranked 11th.
— Hunter Miller (@MillerHHunter) January 2, 2021
Dabo Swinney talked all that mess about Ohio State and Clemson is getting dog walked and Fields is outplaying Lawrence so far.
— Investor B. (@BrysonButcher10) January 2, 2021
Dabo Swinney probably shouldn't have ranked Ohio State 11th
— MettaWorldCrazy (@MettaWorldCrazy) January 2, 2021
Do you think Dabo Swinney still has Ohio State ranked 11? #ClemvsOSU #CFBPlayoff
— Joshua Terry (@_joshuaterry) January 2, 2021
Dabo Swinney really had the audacity to rank Ohio State #11 lmao
— Adarsh Pai (@adarsh9pai) January 2, 2021
https://twitter.com/RealLittleDanny/status/1345200995446501377
https://twitter.com/paullymac7/status/1345200945987268609
https://twitter.com/effie_garcia/status/1345200859680935938
Dabo Swinney’s No. 11 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes aren’t looking too bad!! #putsomerespectonourname pic.twitter.com/bKAktlj2aP
— Timothy Southers (@TSouthers) January 2, 2021
Ohio State after Dabo Swinney ranked them 11th best in poll #SugarBowl pic.twitter.com/bnPbUEdlLf
— The Sports Truth (@TheSportsTruth1) January 2, 2021
I wonder if Dabo Swinney stills thinks Ohio State should be ranked 11th.
— Josh White (@_JoshRWhite) January 2, 2021
Reminiscent of the loss to West Virginia in 2012. That was a complete embarrassment.
People are stupid. He said they were good enough to beat them and win a national championship he just don’t think they deserve it because they didn’t put in the work everyone else did. It’s like someone joining a marathon half way through. He’ll be fresh while everyone else is tired and banged up.
Which is the same argument people give for Clemson and why they don’t deserve it every year.
They play a bunch of weak teams and their starters only have to play half of every game. He should be careful using that logic.
At least they play a full schedule. Bama and UGA only play their starters half of most games too. OSU had their conference change the rules just for them twice for these playoffs.
Not sure about Uga resting starters but ok. Maybe once this year. They aren’t on Alabama’s level.
UGA starters get max 5 minutes of rest. Very rarely if ever are they resting in the third quarter. But thanks for lumping us in with the elite.
They win every game they have to win in a power 5 conference, Ohio State played 6 games against at best average opponents. I don’t think that’s the same thing.
I agree, I don’t know why people aren’t actually reading what he said. A team that played half the amount of games and had half the amount of wear and tear is obviously at an advantage in a game like this. He repeats ad nauseum that it had nothing to do with OSU’s team, it had to do with rewarding a team that played an absurdly small amount of games.
Dabo should have been less concerned about Ohio State’s ranking and more about Clemson reeking.
Agree with you there.
Nice!
11 games played to 6 games played. It shows.
No having their OC is really hurting Clemson and their play calling. It would be like Bama not having Sark, the offense isn’t meshing well with the QBs coach calling the plays.
You and your team are coward losers stealing from SEC.
Why don’t you get a team loser.
Total lack of rhythm.
Are you even in SEC?
You and your team are coward losers stealing from SEC.
Gosh this must be hurting your tiny little brain to comment on every post of mine. Keep it coming, btw we can tell you aren’t very smart since you can’t comment in just one post.
Why are you here coward? Your whole team and you are losers. Didn’t want us to curb stomp you so you cancel.
I get rivalry and trash talking, but, as a fan, you should also have general respect for other fans. This person is a Vandy fan, and, as much as I hate Vandy (in a rivalry sense) I have to have respect for someone who sticks with a team no matter what.
BlackandGold, I wouldn’t even waste time responding. Some people on this site are less mature than children. It says more about them than you.
Dabo talks too much and whines too much. In this case he was right. It is going to be a bad look if OSU upsets Bama and they are champions at 8-0 and Bama isn’t at 12-1.
It will be a bad look to you, but that’s it. We knew this was going to be a weird year before the season started. I don’t like that Ohio State only played six games, but you can’t say they aren’t one of the four best teams in the country. After tonight, they are clearly top two. Fields is making a case to be the top pick in the draft.
Dabo not looking too good right now.
This one is over.
My question is, since Clemson lost embarrassingly to LSU last year and is now trailing tOSU big, is this the end of the Clemson dynasty?
—Nick Saban
Good thing OSU is playing well. They would have had to petition the BIG10 for a rule change.
OSU only played 5 games. They should be ashamed of themselves. They don’t desrve anything.
Clemson might disagree with you right about now.
This is aging well…
Well in this world full of pansies that you’re not allowed to hurt anyone’s feelings Ohio St was had to be given there ways guys
Dabo is a clown, he just got exposed along with the ACC tonight. Y’all better get ready, Bama’s in for a fight. This tOSU team is legit.
Like a fine wine!
and a big’ol wheel of cheddar. Just need a cup and some crackers.
It appears both Oklahoma and Ohio State have grown weary of all the ‘southern chatter.’ Hope Alabama quietly prepares and focuses on the task at hand while avoiding the pregame diatribe with Ohio State.
Saban teams are not known for that. We will get to see OSU play a game in 2 consecutive weeks for the first time.
Not really. The national championship game is next Monday. No game next week.
They didn’t play last week, and they don’t play next week, so they still won’t be playing two weeks in a row
I agree with dabo. I don’t care how good Ohio state might be. It’s very hard to play 11 games and not screw up. No one can say what Ohio state would have done had they played 11 games and had to play week after week they have had no injuries, no fatique, no wear and tear on their body. They have been able to prepare for Alabama and Clemson for weeks while Bama and Clemson played week after week. There is no way you can say a team who has played 6 games should even belong with teams who played 10 or 11 games. Their conference had to change their rules twice just to get OSU where they are today.
Yep 5 fewer games of wear and tear and 5 fewer chances to screw up than any other playoff team. They are a very good football team and the fact that they only played 6 games wasn’t their fault but it should have mattered. The Big 10 is the worst offender here. Changed their own rules just to weasel their only chance into the playoff. It worked because the committee had no spine.
Agreed! The OSU is not the villain here. The B1G is! The fact that they complained/fought/whatever their way into the conference championship game is something any team would have done under these weird circumstances. Remember, the B1G might well not have played at all if they (along with Nebraska . . . whatever) hadn’t fought for some form of a conference season. The constant waffling on the rules and requirements for the championship inspired no confidence what so ever, but that’s not the Bucks fault. Warren and the university presidents were literally drawing plays in the dirt, and that rarely, if ever, works.
I love how everyone latched on to the part where he ranked Ohio State 11th then just threw everything else out the window. He said Ohio State is a great team, could beat them and could very well win the national championship. But these rankings are based on a body of work. OSU barely had one. Everyone he ranked above them played 9-11 games compared to their 6. Ohio State is a really good football team. That’s clear. They have 5 fewer games worth of wear and tear than any of the other playoff teams. That matters.
Dabo is a hypocrite… He was the one pissing and moaning about winning your conference to get to the playoffs in years past. You gotta win it to be in it!! Bucs won! End of story! Saban was on that bandwagon with Dabo! Crow is better when served cold! Hanging 2 pts shy of 50 on the #2 team in the country was impressive! Fields out played Lawrence head to head … Guess Dabo never saw the Waterboy… He gave Bucs a ton of tackling fuel tonight!
Boy, Ohio State looked really fresh.
I agree with Dabo. I don’t care how good they are when they are not banged up. Did anyone notice how Fields play improved after the fake injury ? Ohio State has a long history of playing weak sisters all year long, and now they can skip even that part,,,,,wait. All that adversity, Heisman winners all along the bench, every year, I’m sick of it. Maybe OSU will show up with more zebras that don’t know what a safety is.